Blasphemy case: Pak anti-terrorism court orders release of Chinese national

A Chinese national arrested in Pakistan on charges of committing blasphemy has been freed from a highsecurity prison after an antiterrorism court granted him bail officials said on FridayThe court order came on a day when Chinas new Premier Li Qiang held talks with his Pakistani counterpart Shehbaz Sharif on ThursdayJudge Sajjad Ahmad Jan in the northwestern city of Abbottabad on Thursday granted the bail to the suspect identified as Tian after he furnished a bond of Rs 200000 as surety He was later taken to an undisclosed location due to security reasonsQuoting from the section pertaining to blasphemy the judge ruled that the case did not come within the ambit of reasonable ground as the blasphemy charge was the result of a misunderstandingHe said the police station concerned in Kohistan had registered a false case against the Chinese national The court ruled that according to the record no such offence was committed by the accused and hence he was granted bail the Dawn newspaper reportedThe Chinese national was arrested in the Upper Kohistan district on April 16 after a mob blocked the Karakoram Highway accusing him of committing blasphemy while exchanging arguments with labourers over long prayer breaks at the project siteTwo lawyers represented the petitioner in the court The Chinese national was not brought to the court for security reasons A deputy public prosecutor was also present in the courtroom the report saidThe lawyers contended that their client was innocent terming the blasphemy charge against him false Premier Li who assumed charge in March said China supports Pakistan in maintaining financial stability and hopes that Pakistan will continue to create a favourable environment so as to guarantee the safety of Chinese institutions and personnel in PakistanHe was referring to frequent terror attacks on Chinese personnel and projects in Pakistan under the ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor CPECResponding to Lis remarks Sharif said that Pakistan will make every effort to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel institutions and projects in Pakistan The Joint Investigation Team JIT which was set up to probe the matter placed records of statements made by the accusers and the Chinese national before the courtNaseeruddin the SHO of Kamila police station and the main complainant in the case appeared in court with records officials saidAlso readSeven killed in fire on passenger train in PakistanThe judge ruled in his order that the three labourers and their interpreter who had lodged the FIR two days after the incident were neither able to produce evidence in support of their accusations in the court nor could they prove charges in their statements before the JITThe judge said the interpreter was 3540 feet away from the Chinese national simply assuming that the former had uttered sacrilegious remarksMaulana Waliullah Tohidi a member of Ulema Jirga constituted by clerics after the alleged incident said the release of the Chinese national was a judicial matter and we accept it wholeheartedlyHe however said that the interpreter should be put on trial for instigating the people of Kohistan to take to the streets We Kohistanis are patriotic Pakistani and will never allow anybody within the country or outside to sabotage the Dasu project at any cost Tohidi addedThe sources in JIT told The News newspaper that the Chinese national accused of blasphemy would be sent back to his country as soon as this case wraps up Under Pakistans penal code blasphemy is punishable by death or life imprisonment Critics say the blasphemy laws have been used by extremist groups to persecute minority faiths and unfairly target minoritiesSeveral people have been killed by the extremists though none have been executed under these laws These regulations were introduced by former military ruler ZiaulHaq in the 1980s to win the support of religious groupsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever